Posted on 04/04/2003 10:47:11 AM PST by TLBSHOW
U.S. Will Pay Increased UN Dues -- Despite All By John Gizzi
Despite the refusal of the United Nations Security Council to enforce its own resolutions calling for disarmament of Iraq, the administration is standing by the budget request it made in January to pay for a $90 million increase in the annual U.S. dues to the United Nations.
The budget proposal submitted to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests an appropriation of $322 million for UN dues in Fiscal Year ’04. That’s up from the $232 million in ’03, according to the OMB. (The U.S. is assessed dues amounting to 22% of the overall UN budget each year.)
Asked on April 2, whether the administration had any plan to rollback the increase in UN dues, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, said, “Nothing that anyone’s brought to my attention.”
Some conservative lawmakers indicated they are also ready to pay the increased UN dues. A spokesman for Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R.-Mich.), a member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee (which has oversight over UN funding), said, “Mr. Knollenberg was certainly disappointed in the UN recently, but he is not willing to turn his back on it.” The spokesman said Knollenberg in all likelihood would support the increase.
Similarly, Rep. George Radanovich (R.-Calif.) told me, “The UN has shown how ineffective it is after passing 17 resolutions that were ignored by Iraq.
They’re [sic] League of Nations-like.” But he also signaled he would probably go along with the administration on this issue. “The President has to deal with the world community and the UN will have to have some kind of role in order to bring the rest of the world around [on a postwar Iraq],” he said.
Two other members voiced reservations about the UN’s role in post-war Iraq. “There are plenty of alternatives to the UN and we shouldn’t automatically assume the UN will be the end-all in Iraq after the war,” said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.).
“The UN should need to prove it has a role,” echoed Rep. Jack Kingston (R.-Ga.), a Member of the House Appropriations Committee. “It was totally irrelevant leading up to the war, and contributed to the war in that respect. It ignored 17 of its own resolutions about Saddam Hussein and in twelve years never got serious about weapons inspections. It’s very much like them to come around to the battlefield when the soldiers are dead and then to claim victory. You won’t find leadership from the UN any more than you will find fairness or pro-American statements.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.